WASHINGTON — Two brothers, both military veterans, were arrested by the FBI this week and charged with federal felonies after online sleuths identified them as rioters who had broken into the Capitol and squared off with police during the Jan. 6 attack.
The Justice Department alleges that one of the brothers, William Bierbrodt, is the man who had been dubbed #CrowbarBeardGuy because he used what looked like a crowbar to smash a window and break open a door near the Senate parliamentarian's office. Online investigators later realized he had used a cane.
Video from Jan. 6, 2021, appears to show Bierbrodt missing part of his right foot and using a knee scooter to ascend a ramp at the Capitol before he smashes the window with a cane and goes inside, at times using the wall for support as he confronts police. Court documents said Bierbrodt had a foot injury and "a scooter to assist in mobility."
Joseph Bierbrodt followed his brother and shoved a man who appeared to be a security officer up against a wall before he confronted officers farther inside the building, other video from that day appears to show. Video also appears to show both men were pepper-sprayed and soon went outside the building to recover but remained at the Capitol for hours and confronted officers on the other side of the building as night fell.
William “Marty” Bierbrodt and Joseph “Eric” Bierbrodt were identified by members of a community known as “Sedition Hunters,” who have aided in the arrests of hundreds of Capitol rioters who have been charged and have identified hundreds more who have not yet been arrested.
Online sleuths shared their information about the Bierbrodts with NBC News on the condition that it not be used until the two brothers were arrested. Online court records showed Joseph was arrested in Illinois and William in Florida.
William Bierbrodt faces charges of obstruction of a law enforcement officer during civil disorder, along with a number of misdemeanors. Joseph Bierbrodt, who appears to push a man resembling a Capitol security officer against the wall, faces charges of obstruction of law enforcement during civil disorder and assault on a federal officer.
Joseph Bierbrodt, as a member of the Illinois Army National Guard, received an award for “leadership, patriotism and selfless devotion” in 2018 after he escorted the daughter of an Army sergeant who died in training the previous year to a father-daughter dance. News of the escort got national media attention at the time, including from NBC’s "TODAY" show.
A Parler account under William Bierbrodt’s name and featuring his image posted violent rhetoric in the lead-up to Jan. 6, including a comment that said that “all the Obama cronies should be taken tied to a stack and shot in the head.”
Public defenders for the two brothers did not immediately respond to requests for comment Wednesday.
About 1,000 people have been arrested in connection with the Jan. 6 attack, and hundreds more have been identified to the FBI but not yet arrested.
